RGR421EXFM
Reviewed by:
unregistered, on july 23, 2007 3 of 3 people found this review helpful

Price paid: $ 532

Features: My RGR421EXFM was made in Indonesia in 2006. It's an awesome guitar, 24 jumbo frets, maple body, flamed top, HardTail bridge, and a very smooth and thin wizard neck. It has a pair of active Ibanez humbucker pickups that were designed by EMG, a 3-way selector, a tone knob and volume knob. No idea what the tuners are, but it's damn hard to knock it out of tune. // 9

Sound: I play loads of metal (Slipknot, Stone Sour, Rammstein, Linkin Park, Korn) and this guitar is made perfectly for it. I also play a bit of alternative music, such as Franz Ferdinand and Snow Patrol, and it can easily match the sound. I use a Boss ME-50 multi-effects pedal plugged into a Roland Cube 30, and when you swing the distortion up, it handles it excellently, with a little feedback and buzz, but this is hardly irritating. The neck pickup sounds very bassy and mellow, and is great for soloing in clean. The neck pickup is more suited to the rhythmy sounds, and metalheads like myself tend to hang around here. It has a lot of sustain, and it's very easy to get some wicked screaming harmonics out of it. I think this guitar is made to combine lead and rhythm guitar for players, it can play both roles really well. I'll probably end up putting some real EMG pickups into it, for a more metally sound, but at the moment the pickups are perfect. It's just a really versatile instrument. // 10

Action, Fit & Finish: I got the guitar straight from the box, so it was pretty much all set up for me. Action is awesome, and the pickups are set up perfectly. I don't tend to shred or play incredibly fast, but you can tell this guitar would be capable of such demands, even if the neck is not as thin as a guitar like the RG 1570. I have found no flaws with this guitar yet (except perhaps me). And the finish is absolutely awesome! The flamed top in a very dark red cherry colour is just beautiful. You could easily pick up some chicks just by walking past with this beast. // 10

Reliability & Durability: The guitar could handle a gig quite well. I haven't had the opportunity to go to one with it yet, since I've only had it for about 10 days. It will definitely last a long time, I've bumped it against book cases and other things while practicing and it's not scratched at all. You would have to absolutely smash into a brick wall at 100 miles to get this thing out of tune too. The strap buttons are safe, and will never let you down, unless you start fiddling with them and undoing them. I don't think you'd need a backup when you're using it, but I'm a very precautious person, so I probably would bring a backup. And the finish is fine so far, it's withstood my rough playing so far, so it's good. // 10

Overall Impression: This guitar is oriented mainly for the metal crowd, but it can so easily play softer music, such as alternative rock, progressive rock, and even blues. I have no regrets for buying this guitar. I was tossing up between getting an RG1570 in mirage blue, but I ended up getting this because of the security and assurance of the fixed bridge. I can just get a tremolo bar effect on my effects pedal anyway. If it were stolen, I would definitely get another, but I think this is a limited edition model, so it might be hard to get hold of in the future. The pickups are the best thing about this guitar. They're so versatile, and for the price of the guitar, it is definitely worth it just for those. I think the coolest feature is the finish, it's very sexy. The only thing that I wish it had was real EMG pickups and not Ibanez ones designed by EMG. Also, there might be people Who don't like the body shape, since it's more of a metally look, compared to Strat or Tele, which is more conservative. For those thinking that, look past the shape and listen to the sound. You can get more variety of sounds out of this puppy than a Strat. It's just a fantastic guitar worth every dollar. You can't go wrong. // 9

RGR421EXFM
Reviewed by:
KingNando, on january 21, 2008 2 of 2 people found this review helpful

Price paid: $ 528.2

Purchased from: Steve Forrest Music

Features: The guitar was made mid to late 2007, in Indonesia. It has 24 Jumbo frets, with a 3 piece Wizard-II neck. It has a very beautiful Flamed maple top, with absolutely no faults in it. It's got a Mahogany body, and a rosewood fingerboard, with white binding around the edges of it. The finish is a red flamed top. The style of the guitar is Ibanez's famed Super Strat style. Can't go wrong. It has a fixed Ibanez, Strat style, string through bridge. The guitar came Standard with passive EMG designed, Ibanez produced pickups, which really whale. To harness the power of these puppies, you've got a master Volume and a master Tone knob, with a 3 way selector Switch, and the pickup configuration is a dual humbucker layout. The tuners are Ibanez produced, but hold tuning extremely well with the correct string gauges for the particular tuning you would be playing in. I received no accessories for the guitar, not even a cardboard box! Although to be fair, I DID buy an Ibanez hardcase to go along with it. but a set of wrenches or something would have been nice, as mine are old and rusty. // 8

Sound: I bought this guitar as a thrash around plank of wood to use at band rehearsal sessions. My band playing metal, I couldn't have asked for a better guitar in the price range. It handles metal tones, like high gain and maxed out treble, like a dream, while still being able to crank out a gentle, sweet tone, a'la Red Hot Chilli Peppers and SRV. I'm currently playing all my guitars through an Ashton solid state 200 watt half stack, with no effects. I like simplicity. I mainly play guitar with gain at 7 or 8 and treble all the way to 10, mid at around 4.5, and contour at 4, with bass always varying. With these settings, the guitar blows even my les paul away. There isn't a great deal of noise at these levels, unless you get too close to the amp. Here the sound is bright and punchy, with just enough bass to blow your brains out. As previously said, this guitar can easily match a good Red Hot Chilli Peppers tone, with a little adjustment to the amp settings. I've played Californication and Can't Stop with it, and it sounded just as good (if not better) than the neck humbucker and middle single coil setting on my Washburn. // 10

Action, Fit & Finish: When I first got the guitar, the set up was very poor indeed. The action was'nt too bad, but all across the neck there was nothing but fret buzz, due to the neck having too much back bow. After playing around with the truss rod for a good 20 minutes, it had enough relief to let me adjust the action without any fretbuzz occuring. It now plays great. The pickups were set up very well, but fact being that the whole thing played terribly, it didn't make a difference, as I adjusted them anyway. After some adjusting of the truss rod and action, guitar's parts were aligned perfectly, with no flaws to be found. Score given was taking into account the first impression, before any adjustments were made. // 6

Reliability & Durability: No Doubt at all that this guitar will stand it's ground in a Live environment. It made it's debut at rehearsal today. At first I was skeptical about going nuts with it, but after an hour or 2 of perfect performance, I went ape. The hardware should last a long while, everything seems stable, the strap buttons are great and hold your strap quite well. Although I plan to install a set of strap-locks for peace of mind anyway. As a musician, it's probably wise to bring a back-up guitar, just in case. But I would have no problem grabbing this baby and gettin up on stage with it as my sole instrument. I can't tell if the finish will last or not. My guitars are knocked around quite a bit. I did buy a hardcase with the guitar, so it might last a little longer. // 9

Overall Impression: I play heavy metal, and this guitar was made for it. No Doubt about it.
I have been playing guitar for over 4 years now, and I own an Epiphone Les Paul, and a Washburn X40Pro, with an Ashton 200 watt half stack, among some other guitars and equipment, and this one is definately worthy of rocking with my other babies. The one thing I wish I had asked when I bought this guitar would be 'How much for this puppy with real EMG's'... But these pickups are just as good as EMG HZs. If this guitar were stolen, I would bring out the hunting gear and night vision goggles, then go Optimus Prime on the poor bastard. Failing to retrieve it, I would definately buy a new one. There's nothing I hate about this guitar. Not a single thing. My favourite feature is the playability of the neck. A coat of instrument oil and this baby shreds. I compared this guitar to an Ibanez S160, and an Ibanez RG350DX. This guitar stood out to me because of it's fixed bridge, and the finish of the body, as well as the great EMG design pickups. One thing I wish it had is all around white binding. I love my binding on the Les Paul, it's a very attractive feature. // 9

RGR421EXFM
Reviewed by:
manny_rod, on april 15, 2008 1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Price paid: $ 528.87

Purchased from: GAK.co.uk

Features: This RGR421 EXFM was made in indonesia. brilliant guitar with 24 jumbo frets Wizard II neck, passive V7 & V8 EMG designed IBZ pickups and a very nice sort of dark cherry finish. This guitar unlike most Ibanez guitars has a fixed bridge instead of the more commonly used Edge 3 doble locking tremolo. This guitar is equiped with 1 volume 1 tone nob and a 3way selector swich also the tuners on this thing are brilliant very dificult to nock out of tune. // 9

Sound: I play mostly heavy metal and thrash music and with the pickups this has it's very easy to get some good harmonics. I play this guitar through a Marshall G50R CD and I use a coffin blood drivedistortion pedal on top to give it that extra gain for a heavier sound. The pickups on this give plenty of tone with practically no feed back or buzzing unless you are close to the amp or computer monitor. The neck pickup has a really bassy sort of sound whyle the bridge pickup gives a far more trebly sound which is better for leads rather than rythms. Altho this guitar is seemes to be for heavier styles with the right amp setings it also sounds good even playing blues and things like that. // 10

Action, Fit & Finish: What can I say when I got my guitar out of the box it was set up to perfection intonation and action where practically perfect pickups where well adjusted to. I can't say anithing bad about this guitar. And the finish the dark cherry sunburst looks absoulutley stunning. // 10

Reliability & Durability: This guitar will definitely be able to be used in a live performance, although I wuld definitely recomend taking a backup guitar just incase. The strap buttons on this well I wuldent bother puting locks on it they are brilliant very solid and I don't think the strap will ever come of them. The finish on this semes like it will last a long time I have alredy hit my guitar several times and it hasent left any marks on the finish atall. I think this guitr could be used without a backup but I wuld still recomend taking one just incase. // 9

Overall Impression: Overall this guitar matches my style perfectly I have onley been playing for 2 and a half years but out of all of the guitars that I have owned this is the best much bettr than either of my previous epiphones (Les Paul Special II and SG Gothic) if stolen I would definitely buy another one. I must say that I think the best feature of this guitar is the reverse headstock it just loocks intense. // 9

RGR421EXFM
Reviewed by:
Frost_Ghost, on march 21, 2016 1 of 1 people found this review helpful

Price paid: $ 200

Purchased from: Craigslist

Features: This RG is gorgeous in the purple flamed finish. Black cosmo hardware and reverse headstock make this superstrat look killer. Made in Indonesia in 2009. It has a solid mahagony body with flamed maple top, 24 frets on a super thin, flat-backed 25.5" scale Wizard III neck, and comes with Ibanez V7 and V8 passive pickups. These pickups aren't bad, and are actually what Ibanez includes with some its higher end guitars. I found they sounded pretty good when I lowered the pickup height a bit away from the strings. Of course, I still replaced them with Seymour Duncans and now this guitar rocks. I am very demanding about what guitar necks I will play, and the neck on this is amazing. So super thin and flat (kind of "U" shaped), it just feels great. Good choice for a moding platform. I'm planning to replace the nut and maybe the fixed-bridge hoping for a bit more sustain (see below). // 8

Sound: I play metal (thrash, death, symphonic, black, folk, etc.) and sounds good through most of the amp sims I run it through. I use a Pod X3 and lots of VST software in my project studio, and this guitar can sound great. Especially with high end pickups swapped in, it records almost as well as any other guitar out there. The only thing I'm a little disappointed in is that the wood is not as resonant or sustaining as I would like, and so when played without an amp (which is how I usually evaluate a guitar's quality) it sounds a little dead. Through a good amp though, it sounds great and I only notice a little less sustain than I would like. The mahagony body though gives it a good chunky growl when paired with a high gain amp. // 7

Action, Fit & Finish: I think it's ridiculous to comment on a guitars action - it is ADJUSTABLE! Any guitar will suck with a bad setup, and even cheap guitars can play ok when setup properly. Do yourself a favor and either do some research and learn to do your own setup, or pay a professional to do it. What does matter is the potential a guitar has for good action, and I will say that my RGR421EXFM has the lowest action I ever managed to get on any guitar (and I've setup 30 or so guitars.) The bridge has adjustable height for each string. and this makes it easy to get exactly the action you are after. Finish is good, no issues I can think of. // 8

Reliability & Durability: This guitar is solid. The neck is thin so I'd be careful with it, but I've played live with it for years with no issues. The only thing I notice is that the "cosmo" finished hardware has tarnished and faded. The fixed-bridge is solid, tuners are nothing special but work ok - it's pretty tuning-stable if you install your strings correctly. I'm not sure about the strap buttons because, like all my guitars, I immediately replaced them with straplocks. I'm not sure how easy the finish is to chip because I take really good care of my gear. I think it is actually pretty durable, but have no desire to test that theory. // 9

Overall Impression: Overall, I love this guitar. I have a decent sized guitar collection nowadays, most of which are more expensive than this Ibanez, but I will never part with this RG. It just feels right every time I pick it up and play it. I have a couple of Jacksons that I like almost as much - again I love them for their thin and comfy necks. With a pickup upgrade, and maybe a few other tweaks to try and get the wood a bit more lively, this Ibanez can be a killer guitar. I just wish the wood was a bit more resonant, but it's understandable that on a sub-$1000 guitar that corners have to be cut. I think this guitar is a great value, and I always enjoy playing it. // 8

Why the hel cant they just make it with proper EMG's, no experienced/gigging musician is gonna keep those stock ones in there!
... think i mite have to get one tho! best looking fixed bridge they have out, well i reckon so anyways lol

i got mine a couple months ago. i like it but the coating on the metal of the fixed bridge and pickups is coming off already. And it'd be better with an FR Tremolo system. Other than that it's pretty much perfect.

LazyLatinoRocke wrote:
Which would be better. this guitar or the Ibanez S320 S? help would be appricated thx

well if u want the floyd headache thn id recomnd the s series lol
the neck is generally nice and the body is really thin
i know the higher end s series have a good sound
personally, i own this guitar and an rg and i prefer this one over the standard rg
it feels nice and has a great sound
if u can get a deal on this guitar def buy it

I paid $412 for this guitar and it is amazing.
mine had V7/V8 pickups but they are also good sounding pickups for metal
my guitar is blue(lavendar) and it has a 5-way switch tho
i have a hard-on for guitars with bindings all around

I've been thinking of buying this guitar, the new model which is lavender purple and has 5 way switching. But would this guitar be good for that Van Halen type sound, or only for metal? Also do they have problems with the truss rods or is it just coincidence with the guys mentioned here?

I got lucky and found one brand new in the box for $275.00 after a quick set-up and pick up swap out this guitar is just killer. The Wizard II feels nice and the fret job was good. I've been a bit of a snob the last few years only buying parts from Warmoth and I'm a big fan of the stainless steel frets. This guitar really is something special.

i have this guitar in lavender and its just soooo amazing to me its better than the red one because first the pickups are horrible when they run out of battery and lavender looks better..lol...but they are both the best sounding and best playing guitars i have ever heard...they are superb to the more priced models. you might just think i love the guitar because i just got it but i have had this guitar for over a year and still love it more than my new prestige...its made for metal but you can get anything out of this guitar..buy it and you wont regret it